Comfortably Numb
Reality is that which, when we stop believing in it, doesn't go away. Cast * Archie Jensen * Sara Smith * Professor Van Ark * Simon Lauchlan Plot Mustn't Keep Him Waiting Archie wakes you up and instructs you to take your medication and put on your shoes. A running track has been installed for your rehabilitation! Doctor V Sara meets you outside and talks you through your zombie delusions. She urges you to trust Doctor V and reassures you to trust the injections he gave you. Get Them The environment changes; Simon is now beside you, trying to help you escape. He reprimands you about what you did to the Comansys flotilla. Let It Go Van Ark informs you that you’ve had an episode. Archie is looking forward to a visit from Jamie, and Sara can’t wait to see her boys again. Altruism You’re back with Simon who is leading another hallucination-fuelled escape attempt. He firmly reminds you that it’s time to do your duty. Always Van Ark is fascinated by the alternate reality you have created for yourself. He thinks you’ve done well enough to receive a visitor, and Sam’s voice echoes out. Runner 5 You come round with Simon slapping your cheek. He senses you’re back to normal, since you’re now looking at him with disgust rather than glazed confusion. Transcript ARCHIE JENSEN: Wake up, Five! It’s your big day! Well, maybe not so huge, but not small, either. It’s your medium-sized day, today! Here, I’ve got your running shoes ready. Just put these on. Well, you could get dressed first. I don’t mind. I’m happy to see you let it all hang out, but perhaps Doctor V might not like it so very much. You know how stuffy he can be! laughs Five zips on their clothing Very good. You look very smart in your tracksuit bottoms and T-shirt. And they’re all in our favorite orange! Look, we match! I like that all of us patients have the same uniform. It makes me feel that I belong. Okay, so you have your shoes, and you’ve brushed your teeth with your purple toothbrush. But there is one thing you’ve forgotten, Five. Very silly. You must of course take your medication before you go out. It would be very bad if you had an incident like you did after the crash. But the doctors said we weren’t to talk about that. Just take your pills, and then we can go out for your big treat! A running track they’ve put in just for you! I know how you like to run, Five, with the wind making your hair all messy and tangly, and your stomach feeling like maybe you’ll be throwing up soon. It’s so fun! So, are you ready? But Five, listen. You must do as Doctor V says. I know you don’t completely trust him. I didn’t trust him either. But he is the only one who can stop you imagining these silly things you’ve been imagining. snorts The zombie apocalypse? giggles Very horrible. So much nicer to live in the real world! So come on. We mustn’t keep him waiting. ARCHIE JENSEN: Oh, look! We aren’t the first on the track! I thought we would be the first, because they made it specially for you from this lovely indigo grass, but someone is even more keen. SARA SMITH: Hi there, Five. Good to see you again. I heard the board had to vote on whether they could put this running track in. Apparently, some of the doctors were worried about feeding into your delusions. ARCHIE JENSEN: Oh, but they do not understand the brain chemistry of delusions at all! Newer research suggests that it is better to confront our fears than avoid them. I know you sometimes think that you are running with zombies, all gray and gruesome, but here you are, running with friends instead. It is much nicer, isn’t it? SARA SMITH: It was Doctor V who talked them into it, Five. I know how you feel about him, but those injections of his were just muscle relaxant, Five, not whatever weird cocktail of immortality drugs you thought they were. But I used to be just the same. Do you remember how I used to think he was planning to kill me? laughs ARCHIE JENSEN: I used to think that, too! I had terrible dreams. I dreamed he hurt me with electricity. I dreamed he kept Jamie away from. I dreamed he killed me! It’s funny, because he’s so fluffy? Is that the right word? In his white coat and with his white hair, he looks like a smiling cloud! laughs I just want to hug him! SARA SMITH: Doctor V convinced the board your mental health is improved by running. You’ve been here two years now, and you still – well, you haven’t faced up to everything that happened after the crash, have you? He said if they wanted to see real progress, they’d give you this. ARCHIE JENSEN: And there’s Doctor V now! Look, he has running shoes on, orange ones. He’s going to come running with us! Isn’t that nice? PROFESSOR VAN ARK: Patient Five! How lovely to see you up and about so early! You really are in tremendously good shape. Would you mind if I join you? No, don’t slow down! Keep running. I know how you like to do that. caw SIMON LAUCHLAN: Quickly, Five. This way. Down the path between the brambles, but watch out! They’re tricky buggers! They’ll grab you if they can. I think they’re working for Van Ark. laughs I’m not going to let myself back into his clutches, not after what happened last time. You wouldn’t want that either, would you? Or maybe you would. Look at the state of you, Five! I thought I was a mess. Well, less of one now I’ve got my full set of limbs back, but you really take the biscuit. I know they’ve been pumping you full of God knows what in that place, but that’s not it, is it? It’s not what they’ve done to you, it’s what you’re doing to yourself. hoots Dammit! That’s an alarm call. The owls are working for him too, you know. They’ve always been nasty little bastards. No loyalty. Follow me! But be careful of the giant spider’s webs, they’re hard to see in the dark. rustles Hurry up, Five! Blimey, it’s as if you want to get caught. You do, don’t you? You’ve got a guilty conscience, I can spot it a mile off. Come on, you can talk to Uncle Simon. It’s not like I won’t understand. But then, you’re not used to it, are you? Being the bad guy. You don’t know how to cope. howls Wolves, too! They’re bringing in the heavy guns. They must really want you back. You can’t let them take you, Five! It’s cowardice! That’s what it is. If I can face up to what I’ve done, the why the hell can’t you? Although, to be fair, you killed a lot more people than I ever did. How many were on those Comansys boats? Must have been hundreds, thousands even! All going about their daily lives, happy as you please, until you came along and then boom! I was there, you know, on the ships just before they blew. I was after the serum, same as you. Could have seen that explosion a mile off. Pretty impressive! If you’re a fan of death and destruction. No, don’t turn away from it, don’t try to run from it. That way, madness lies. AMELIA SPENS: There’s the escaped patient. Get them! howl SIMON LAUCHLAN: Come on, Five, we’ve got to get away from them. And the trees are trying to drag us back. Run! PROFESSOR VAN ARK: Patient Five? Patient Five, can you hear me? Ah, there you go. Just breathe easily. Keep running. You’ll feel better in a moment. You’ve had another incident, I’m afraid. SARA SMITH: It’s that damned Patient Three, isn’t it? Dripping poison in your ear. I knew he was trouble the instant I clapped eyes on him. PROFESSOR VAN ARK: Patient Eight is correct. Three is a very troubled man, I’m afraid, even though he is your friend. Abusive upbringing, of course, as there so often is in these cases. I’ve been treating him for several years now, but I fear he may be a hopeless case. Utterly irredeemable. You really shouldn’t listen to anything he says. Remember how he encouraged you to steal the gardener’s weedkiller spray and “spray the zombies” with it? You killed a lot of beautiful black apple trees. ARCHIE JENSEN: I listened to him once, Five. We did naked limbo dancing, and I got into some very bad trouble. Doctor V had to take away my privileges for a week! No ABBA to listen to, imagine that! SARA SMITH: It’s true. He’s a compulsive liar, that man. He’s spun so many tales now, I don’t think he’d know the truth if it came and bit him on the ass! PROFESSOR VAN ARK: Don’t worry about that now, Patient Five. Just concentrate on your running. A steady pace, an even gait. Look around you at the trees and grass. That bed of roses you and Archie planted last spring. Look at those beautiful blue blossoms. So calming. SARA SMITH: There you go, you see. You’re feeling a lot better now. I can tell. ARCHIE JENSEN: It’s good to be better. I’m feeling so nearly well again that Doctor V said I can soon have a visit from Jamie! I’m so excited! Sara says I’m behaving as if it’s a visit from the Queen! SARA SMITH: I’m just counting the days until my discharge, Five. Until I can finally go home and see my boys again. I just need – I need to be sure I won’t hurt them again, like I did before. I know you’re worried about the same thing. PROFESSOR VAN ARK: And you really are making very good progress, Patient Five. It’s all about letting go of these feelings of guilt and responsibility. After the crash, well, it’s no surprise the world started to seem like a dangerous place. That all your friends seemed like dead people walking. Paranoia – feeling that the crash was somehow targeted at you – is a very normal response. But this fantasy you’ve constructed – the zombie apocalypse, that little settlement of yours – what was it called, again? SARA SMITH: Patient Five’s named it after the ward. Abel. PROFESSOR VAN ARK: Of course. This fantasy town full of fantasy friends, well. You were feeling very isolated. But you don’t need it anymore, Patient Five. You have real friends here, and real help. And whatever you might have done, when you saw those men with the leafblower and thought it was a rocket launcher – it’s in the past. Everyone’s forgiven it, except you. That’s the final piece of the puzzle. The last part of you that needs putting back together before we can truly say that you’re well. Can you face up to what you’ve done and then let it go? Well? Can you, Five? SIMON LAUCHLAN: Concentrate, Five! For God’s sake. I don’t know where you’re going. You need to show me the way. But they’ve pumped you so full of that bloody poison, you don’t know if you’re coming or going. Well, you’re coming with me, under this old railway bridge. Just watch out for the troll, and try to stay in the here and now. I know you’re seeing things, I can tell it from the way your eyes keep flitting about. You need to remember what’s real. I’m real. I’m the only thing there is! Well, me and that troll. You don’t believe me, do you? I suppose that’s a good sign. Generally speaking, you tend not to trust a word I say. But look at it this way – if you were having a private little fantasy all to yourself, would you really put me in it, of all people? I mean, I’m not being falsely modest here, but I don’t think I’m your idea of a dream date. hiss Bloody hell, when you have a bad trip, you really go to town, don’t you? Couldn’t you have imagined something a bit less like walking backwards snakes, there? Those things really give me the heebie-jeebies. Five, I’m starting to feel like you’re not really hearing exactly what I’m saying. It’s getting mixed up with your hallucinations, but you have to listen to this. Listen. Listen! You can’t crack up. I know it’s tempting. Believe me, I know! But the world needs you to be compos bloody mentis. You mean something to people! Altruism’s your game, isn’t it? Doing the right thing. Duty and honor before everything, and all that bollocks. Well, it’s time to do your duty. I don’t care if it hurts. Doing the right thing often does. That’s why I generally avoid it! So - hisses bugger it. Here come some more of your hallucinations. Look at them staggering around. I think those meds you’re taking are messing with your mind. Come on, Five, we better make ourselves scarce. PROFESSOR VAN ARK: Ah, there you are, Patient Five. Should have known I’d find you back on the running track. Whenever things upset you, this is where you come. It’s what gives you a sense of purpose, I suppose. The crash took away your control, destroyed your belief that the world is a predictable place. When you were on the tube, surrounded by all those blank-faced people, the groan of the train engine, I suppose it’s no surprise that you snapped. It’s a fascinating case study. I rather think there might be a paper in it for me. On your pilfering and collection of small objects to bring back to build up Abel, alone! And your peculiar harrassment of those two radio personalities. Not to mention this Patient Three you’ve hallucinated, when you know very well that room three is bricked up and empty inside. No one can get in there, Patient Five. But I’m pleased to report that you’re making good progress. So good, in fact, that I think I can risk allowing you a little perk. Now, I wouldn’t normally permit this before your course of treatment was completed, but as you’ve been so good, I’m going to allow you a visitor. Look, here he comes. Now, Patient Five, you need to remember that those dreams you’ve had about hurting him are just that – dreams. You only imagined it, because he’s so important to you. But Sam Yao is absolutely fine. SAM YAO: Hello, there! PROFESSOR VAN ARK: I’ll leave you two to catch up. SAM YAO: Well, you’re a sight for sore eyes. How are you? You’re looking a lot better. Like, a lot. They told me you were, but I didn’t want to believe it. Not after, well, that little setback when they took you on the boat outing. But you don’t want to think about that. I shouldn’t have even mentioned it. Stupid, stupid Sam. Um, the thing to remember is that a few people might have been a bit shaken, but no one was hurt, and uh, whatever you’ve been imagining, no one at all was killed. Sara isn’t dead, Archie’s still alive. Doctor V’s in rude health. And uh, you definitely didn’t kill me. And what you did do, well um, well, it hasn’t changed the way I feel about you. Nothing ever would. echoes, morphs from SAM YAO’s voice to SIMON LAUCHLAN’s And you know what? You’re looking so well, I think it’s time for you to leave this place. SIMON LAUCHLAN: Come on, I’m taking you home. I’ll always come for you, Runner Five. Run with me. LAUCHLAN slaps Runner Five SIMON LAUCHLAN: Oh, for God’s sake, snap out of it! I’m not enjoying slapping you. Well, I sort of am, but um, if you’d just get back inside your head, I could just – LAUCHLAN slaps Runner Five Ah, there you are! About bloody time! laughs Now get up, and follow me. You know how I can tell you’re better? Because when you were tripping, you were a lot friendlier. Never thought I’d miss that look in your eye you’ve got right now, like I’m something you wiped off your shoe. laughs You led me a merry old chase, though. All the way to this old mental hospital. I suppose there must have been a part of you that knew you needed the help. But you weren’t exactly waiting around for it, and I’d forgotten how fast you are. I’d been letting myself go a bit, what with the whole “eaten alive by zombies, turn out to be immortal, regrow half my body” business. It’s been a busy few months for us both. And just as well for you. If Amelia hadn’t sent me to nick some of that serum from Comansys before you, well, you know what you did. I’d have never been able to inject you with it when you were attacking Abel, and get you away from Moonchild. Oh, she’s a one, isn’t she? Few sopranos short of an opera, if you ask me. moan Looks like we’ve got company. I didn’t really expect you to up and run, Five. Thought you’d just collapse when I injected you with that stuff. You’re fine, by the way. Whatever it was Van Ark did to both of us seems to counteract the necrotizing effect of that serum. Which is good news for me. laughs There’s only so many hands a man wants to regrow in his life. But the prof’s treatment seems to have some side effects, as usual. Looked like you were tripping your socks off when you were running away from me. Kept going on about having killed Sam! laughs Well, just as well you didn’t, really. That really would have driven you doolally. But he’s alive and kicking, and just as irritating as ever. I’ve been listening in to his radio transmissions. So, all’s well that ends well. Apart from those poor sods on the Comansys ships, obviously. tones ring Whole horde of mind-controlled goons at ten o'clock. Looks like Moonchild is pretty keen to get you back. But that’s okay. You know what to do, don’t you? Of course you do, Runner Five. Codex Artefact 'A Blue Flower ' Archie gave you this flower. It's not real. It's probably not real. She said you were always meant to come to Abel. She says there are things you don't know about yourself. When you look too hard at the flower, you can't see it anymore. Do not look too hard at the flower. Category:Mission Category:Season Three